Frequently Asked Questions

Q. My Service Provider accepts NENA 2.0 files. From the Cisco Emergency Responder (Cisco ER) documentation, I see that Cisco ER itself generates NENA 2.0 files. Will I need to use AFT for sending ALI files to my service provider?

A. Cisco ER was designed to generate ALI files in NENA 2.0, 2.1 and 3.0 format. However, many service providers have specific fields that they use for internal purposes. If their fields are missing, they might reject the ALI file you send them from Cisco ER. These ALI files need formatting for the service provider-specific fields. This might be adding, removing, or changing the position of some fields. AFT is a small application that you can download from CCO and use for formatting the ALI files which Cisco ER generates according to your service provider's requirements.

Q. In my Cisco ER setup, I have a set of ELINs that I bought from Verizon and another set of ELINs that I bought from Sprint. I have configured these ELINs in Cisco ER. I did an ALI export and exported the ELINs to a single file. How will I send this ELIN file separately to Verizon and Sprint?

A. You can use AFT to accomplish this task. Perform the following steps:

Procedure

Step 1 Download the Verizon AFT and download the Sprint AFT from CCO and install them on your Cisco ER server.

Step 2 Give the ALI file exported from Cisco ER as input to the Verizon AFT.

Step 4 Use the Verizon area code to generate an output file that is specific to Verizon. This will be different than the Sprint area code. Send this file of the Verizon ELINs to Verizon. For more information on generating an output file, see the "Generating a Formatted ALI File" section.

Step 5 Repeat steps 2 - 4 to generate a file containing just the Sprint ELINs by using the Sprint AFT.